Dark Fortune
by Dreamsong
Summary: No one knows how it came to be, but Cat Noir has been left to defend the city by himself against an advacery he may not be able to beat, but help may yet come from unexpected places...
1. Prologue

Prologue

Nathaniel would never forget the moment it happened.

The tv screen of every home in Paris flashed.

 _ **Breaking News**_

The reporter who came on looked shaken and it took her a moment too long to get her words out.

 _"Citizens of Paris,"_ she said _,_ her voice having none of its usual business _-_ like manner and her upbeat personality subdued _. "We have begun receiving reports of a newly akumitized victim rampaging through the city and advise everyone to get indoors and stay there. This is like nothing we've ever seen before."_

She looked off camera and nodded.

 _"Play it."_

The picture changed to obviously amateur footage that seemed to have been taken on a phone. The image shook so badly at first that it was like an earthquake, but once it steadied out, two figures came into focus. Both were dressed in all-black suits and appeared to be fighting one another. Whoever was taking the video zoomed in as far as they could and the audience realized that one of the figures was Cat Noir.

Of course it was him. But who was that other? She seemed strangely familiar and hell-bent on killing Cat Noir.

 _"Ladybug, please!"_ Cat Noir's distance voice echoed through the street.

The viewers at home felt their stomachs sinking in despair as they suddenly realized who the other figure was.

The girl in black raised what could have been a yo-yo and spun it above her head. Darkness gathered in the spinning vortex and she threw it at Cat Noir. As he barely ducked out of the way it exploded into the ground where he had been standing, sending concrete and dirt flying.

The shock wave knocked the videographer off their feet and the screen went dark before returning to the shaken reporter, who now looked even more upset. She cleared her throat and took a deep breath before she spoke.

 _"It appears that Ladybug herself… has been akumitized. We have no further details at this time, but we will be sure to keep the citizens of Paris informed as more information becomes available. The Mayor advises all citizens to please remain indoors and away from any windows."_

Abruptly, the news cut out and was replaced by a peppy commercial for a new restaurant downtown. The transition was almost painful. Such news should have been followed by silence, even mourning, not an upbeat tune and a smiling man.

Nathaniel hit the power button and sat in silence, despair clawing at him. Tears burned the back of his eyes, but he shook his head and moved to the window.

No. There was no reason to despair yet. Ladybug wasn't the only hero in Paris. Cat Noir was still out there. Cat Noir was a superhero too and surely he would be able to stop her. He would be able to fix everything.

Wouldn't he?


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

His heart was racing in his chest and his vision blurring as the tears streaked across his face. The wind whipped past him as his feet moved automatically. He was shaking so badly, he was sure the only thing keeping him roof-bound were the cat-like reflexes his kwami gave him.

Chat's feet knew where he was going, even if he couldn't see. There was only one person who could help him, who would know what to do. He hoped, he prayed, that he was right, because if he was wrong, then Paris was doomed.

And so was his lady.

His feet stopped and he took a deep breath, realizing he'd reached his destination. Trying vainly to wipe the tears away, he sniffed loudly, shook his head, and slid down the wall to perch on the open windowsill. Before him was the old man, sitting silently at his usual place among the simple furnishings of the apartment.

He wasn't sure why his penchant for climbing in and out of windows seemed to increase the longer he was Chat Noir, but it had become habit before he'd even realized it. It did seem a very cat-like thing to do, now that it occurred to him. In fact, he'd caught himself nearly climbing out the window the other day while he was still Adrien.

Or was that just a normal teen thing? Where there a lot of other teens who used windows as entrances and exits so often that they came to prefer them or was that just another weird quirk of being a superhero?

Chat Noir frowned, knowing that he was letting his mind wander from the subject on purpose. He had to face it, sooner or later.

He watched from his perch on the windowsill as the old man poured two cups of tea with utter precision and replaced the pot on its warmer. Then, taking a sip from the cup before him, the old man spoke.

"Are you going to come in?"

Chat blinked. He knew he hadn't made any noise when he'd landed and Master Fu hadn't turned around at all.

With a soft sigh, he rubbed the last of his tears away and slid into the room, claiming the spot before the second cup of tea. He bowed his head over it, guilt crushing him into the floor, and waited for his Master to rebuke him. This was his fault and he knew it. Surely Master Fu knew it too.

The silence stretched on between them for several minutes that felt like an eternity to Chat until the young man couldn't take it any longer. He turned so that he fully faced his Master and fell into a groveling position, his forehead on the floor and his hands clasped before him.

"Master, I'm sorry! This is all my fault! I've been so stupid! How did I not see it? How did I not recognize her sooner? I've been a blind idiot and now she's paying the price. I did this to her. This is my fault. This is all my fault."

He cut off with a sob, realizing that he was crying again.

"All my fault," he whispered, anguish tearing at him. "All my fault."

Chat felt a gentle hand on his head and heard Master Fu sigh above him as the tears continued to fall.

"We bearers of the Miraculous may be gifted with powers, but we are all still as human as any other. You made a mistake, yes, but you are not the only one who is at fault."

Chat looked up slowly, trying to get himself under control.

"W-What… what do you mean, Master?" he finally managed.

"I mean," Fu said, pausing for a sip of his tea. "That she also made a mistake, did she not? In accepting Hawk Moth's power."

Chat shook his head, looking down again.

"She was pushed to it. Everything that happened…"

He trailed off, swallowing hard. Perhaps it hadn't been _all_ his fault, but he knew he'd made it worse. She'd had two too many heartbreaks in too short of a time. If only he'd known! If only he'd found her more quickly or been more watchful when he did track her down, then maybe... maybe...

He felt the tears rising again, though he tried valiantly to push them down.

"Tell me," Master Fu said gently.

Chat sat up slowly.

 _Four hours ago…_

She'd been stuttering and nervous, but she'd been trying to tell him something that seemed extremely important to her. The only reason he could tell it was important was because she was stuttering even more than usual and didn't seem able to put two words together. She usually managed strings of words, even if they didn't always make sense.

"I-I-I… T-That is… y-y-you... c-c-c-can and m-m-m-me… w-w-we… w-w-want t-t-to…"

As it became clear she wasn't going to be able to say whatever it was she was so desperately trying to, he reached out and touched her shoulders. The move made her jump and squeak as her face went a darker shade of red than it already had been.

"Take a breath, Marinette," he advised with a gentle smile. "Just breath for a minute, okay?"

She nodded vigorously and closed her eyes, taking deep, slow breaths. He watched her mentally psych herself up for whatever it was she was trying to say, standing a little straighter so that his hands fell away. Finally, she let out a breath and said in a rush,

"I'vebeeninlovewithyousincethatdayyougavemeyourumbrellaandIwaswonderingifyouwouldgooutwithmesometme?"

She covered her face with her hands as he gaped at her, trying to parcel out what she'd just said. After a moment, it hit him and his jaw dropped. She was in love with him? Marinette, his sweet friend, was in love with him? Oh, this was bad.

The girl in question was peeking out from behind her hands now, face still bright red, and she must have seen the regret in his face, because he saw her expression change, trying to cover up the hurt.

"Marinette," he said quietly, dropping his gaze. "I'm so sorry. I'm already in love with someone else."

She was nodding like a bobblehead before he'd even finished speaking.

"R-r-right. O-of course. I u-understand. There's s-someone… else."

"Marinette…," he began, but she was already backing away from him, one hand waving nervously.

"N-no, no, I understand! Totally! Um, I-I'll see you… t-tomorrow!"

Then she spun and dashed off, nearly tripping over her own feet as she did so, and he felt his heart sink. Marinette was one of the few people he could have honestly called a friend and he had a feeling that today marked the end of that. He felt tears prick the back of his eyes and he set his jaw. He was not going to cry, even if he felt like someone was twisting his heart mercilessly in his chest.

He had gone home, but the scene kept replaying over and over in his mind. Then, as he kept trying to think of some way it could have gone differently, a new thought occurred to him. He'd just broken her heart. She was a prime target for Hawkmoth.

The thought sent him straight up in bed and he was transformed before he reached the window. He ran as fast as he could across the rooftops of Paris, knowing exactly where their family bakery was at and praying that he wouldn't be too late, but as soon as the familiar building came into his line of sight, he stopped dead in his tracks.

Something was wrong.

The shop shouldn't have been closed this early in the day. It wasn't even five o'clock yet, but the door was closed and the lights were off. He moved closer and saw that the lights of the apartment above were off, too.

Something was very wrong.

Where were Marinette and her parents? He could feel in his gut that something was devastatingly wrong and he needed to take action, but what could he do? He dropped into an alley and de-transformed to call Alya. She didn't pick up the first or second time he tried, but the third time, she picked up.

"Alya, where's Marinette?"

"Adrien?" the girl sounded a bit out of breath, as though she was jogging. "I'm on my way to the hospital. They think her papa had a heart attack."

Oh no.

"I'll meet you there!"

"Is that a good idea?" Alya demanded before he could hang up.

Adrien groaned in frustration. Earlier. She had confessed to him not an hour ago and he'd rejected her. There was no way she'd want to see him, but he couldn't just sit back and do nothing either. If she hadn't already been a prime target for Hawkmoth, then she certainly was now and he couldn't sit back and do nothing.

"Right. Sorry. I won't come."

At least not as Adrien.

He ended the call.

"Plagg?"

"Dude, you owe me _so_ much cheese," the kwami said.

"I know, I know. You'll get as much as you want when this is over, okay? Claws out!"

Then he was racing across the rooftops again, this time headed for the hospital. He paused when he reached it, suddenly realizing that as Chat, he would be extremely conspicuous waltzing into such a public place. After a long moment of thought, he shrugged. There was nothing else for it.

So, Chat Noir waltzed into the emergency room as though he were any other person. He got a lot of surprised looks, but no one stopped him as he passed the waiting room and moved further in. Hopping into the nearest elevator and glancing over the list of floors, he hit the button for the one he thought most likely, and headed up.

As the elevator opened up onto the floor, he poked his head out and looked around. There was no one in this hallway, so he continued his waltz, deciding to head left and hope to get lucky. Nurses and doctors and techs passed him as he wandered, but all were either too busy or didn't feel it their place to stop and question the superhero.

Then he spotted the Dupain-Chengs. He quickly backed up around the corner he'd just turned so that they would be less likely to see him and watched the two women comfort each other, but as he watched Marinette closer, his heart sank. She was in bad shape.

A doctor stopped next to them and her mother stood, walking a little ways away and Chat debated how best to approach his friend, but before he could, he spotted the butterfly near her shoulder. With no time to reach her, he could only watch in horror as the black bug landed on the earrings she usually wore.

Then, everything had gotten worse.

Instead of the glowing butterfly over her face immediately, he watched as a pink light enveloped her and she transformed into Ladybug. Then, the butterfly appeared and he couldn't move. Couldn't think. Couldn't breath.

Marinette was Ladybug. His love was the girl he'd just rejected because he was… in love with her other half. Oh, he had screwed up big time.

The dark, bubbling cloud enveloped her and he watched in horror as it faded away to reveal something new. Her entire suit had gone black and she had a nasty smile on her face. That expression would never have touched Ladybug's lips.

She threw her head back and laughed.

Chat stepped out of hiding.

"Ladybug!"

She turned and smirked at him.

"Ladybug?" she asked sweetly. "Who's that? I'm Miss Fortune."

Then she attacked.


End file.
